Muhibbah Eyes Projects In S'pore

Source : The Business Times, 17 October 2007

(KUALA LUMPUR) Construction firm Muhibbah Engineering Bhd has identified sizeable infrastructure construction projects in Singapore and Vietnam to grow its business organically, says a report in Malaysia's Business Times.

It is targeting an organic revenue growth of 10 per cent this year from RM1.09 billion (S$473 million) in 2006. Net profit was RM33.8 million last year.

The Klang-based group currently has some RM2.3 billion worth of infrastructure projects in Malaysia, Singapore, the Middle East, Europe, Sudan and Cambodia.

Group chief financial officer Shirleen Lee said Muhibbah plans to focus on getting new jobs in Singapore to take advantage of its booming construction industry.

'Singapore will be seeking bids for projects to build bridges, ports, terminals and plant installations in the country over the next two years. We have tendered for RM600 million worth of jobs via our Singapore unit,' Ms Lee told the Malaysian paper in an interview.

Muhibbah made a foray into Singapore through its wholly owned unit, Muhibbah Engineering (Singapore) Pte Ltd, 18 years ago, but reduced its work in the 1990s to concentrate on projects in Malaysia.

It became active again in 2002 and has completed more than RM500 million worth of jobs.

Ms Lee said Muhibbah has a good working relationship with Singapore Government-Linked Companies and a proven track record for completing jobs on time, for example, the horizon oil jetty and terminal project on Jurong Island.

She added that Muhibbah still has RM200 million worth of infrastructure jobs ongoing in Singapore. 'We have also tendered for some RM500 million worth of contracts to build jetties, factories and ports for the private sector in Vietnam. However, it could take a while before anything happens.'

Group managing director Mac Ngan Boon said Muhibbah has identified RM11 billion worth of infrastructure jobs mostly related to the oil and gas industry in the Middle East, South-east Asia, North Africa and Malaysia, of which it has tendered for almost half of the jobs.